Heretofore, various attempts have been made to use light beams of both visible and invisible wavelengths to aid in training jumpers. A training device for use in jumping practice by ice skaters is hitherto disclosed by Lee in U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,595. Lee's device comprises a single beam of electromagnetic wave suspended at an adjustable distance above a floor or an ice surface by a mechanism that generates electromagnetic wave energy and detects that same energy bounced back from a reflector plate placed a distance apart from the generator source. This beam of electromagnetic transmission suspended across the distance between the transceiver and reflector keeps an electric switch open and an electric alarm disabled or silent. Whenever the invisible beam is broken or cut by any obstruction, such as a skater's boot or leg, the alarm mechanism is energized and it will signal an interruption. The alarm signal enables an ice-skater to receive immediate feedback that the desired jump height was not achieved, so that a practicing skater may track step by step upward progress by constantly trying to keep the alarm off or silent. While Lee's device does provide immediate Pass or Fail feedback, it fails to provide quantitative information related to the maximum height achieved for any given jump, and further presumes the apex of each jump will consistently occur within the vertical plane of the electromagnetic beam.
In order to measure the height jumped during a high jump, a device employing a plurality of individual optical systems arranged parallel to and above the ground at incremental heights in a vertical plane is hitherto disclosed by Braun in German patent application number DE 3029646 A1. Braun's device does measure the height achieved by the high jump athlete within the specific vertical plane in which it is deployed (e.g. the vertical plane of a high jump crossbar), however it fails to provide other valuable feedback parameters of the high jump, such as the maximum height achieved throughout the entire flight path of the jump, the width of the jump and thus clearance of the crossbar in the fore and aft direction, and the location of the jump apex relative to the crossbar in the fore and aft direction. In order to determine these additional valuable parameters of the high jump, measurements within a volume and projected onto a two-axis planar array, perpendicular to both the vertical crossbar plane and the horizontal crossbar plane, are required.
An optoelectronic device comparable to Braun is hitherto disclosed by Biasi in U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,389 for use in the ground plane to measure the ground contact time and position of a body within a preset region, particularly adapted for the evaluation of hopping tests to determine the degree of athletic fitness of an individual. Biasi further discloses the use of two such devices arranged at right angles to one another to obtain the position on the plane where contact between the body and the surface occurs, and to measure the speed of a body which follows an unknown path within the plane of detection.
Similarly, a multi-optical axis photoelectric sensor hitherto disclosed by Tagashira in U.S. Pat. No. 8,487,236 detects entry of an object into a predetermined hazardous area by interruption of a planar “light curtain” consisting of a plurality of parallel optical beams. However, the Tagashira patent focuses primarily on the configurability and arrangement of system components “so as not to cause deterioration in workability and efficiency of wiring work” among components.
The devices disclosed by Braun, Biasi and Tagashira all deploy a plurality of optical sensors, either in a one-dimensional line, or in a two-dimensional arrangement of perpendicular but still co-planar lines, to determine the current state presence and/or location of an object within a two dimensional planar area of deployment. However none of these devices as disclosed is suited for adaptation to provide the valuable feedback parameters of a jump as previously described herein for a high jump, nor could they support the envisioned, advanced capabilities of a jump training system, such as flight path future state prediction, and prompting the jump athlete to execute specific time-critical actions, such as the kicking motion for a high jump athlete.
Additionally, a system and method for tracking and assessing movement skills in multidimensional space is disclosed by French in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,308,565, 6,430,997, 8,503,086 and 8,861,091. French notes that, “Sports specific skills can be classified into two general conditions: 1) Skills involving control of the body independent from other players; and 2) Skills including reactions to other players in the sports activity.” French describes a simulation environment within which a subject athlete would wear specific, required special clothing or markings/tags in order to be detected; would be presented with simulated opponent “avatars” projected into the simulation environment or shown on a separate display; and would be presented with contrived opponent actions at random times intended to illicit a sport-specific reactive response from the subject athlete. While the French system primarily focuses on “Skills including reactions to other players in the sports activity”, it falls short in several key regards for “Skills involving control of the body independent from other players” such as in the Track and Field event of High Jump. The present invention's advantages over French for skills of body control include: instrumentation to provide skill assessment and training cues in the real world sports environment as opposed to a less representative simulated environment; and no requirement to wear any special clothing, markings, or tags to be detected, which could hinder the precise movements and quality of the athletic performance being assessed.
In USPTO publication number US20130280683A1, Smith describes the instrumentation of the real world sports environment for assessment and training in equestrian sports. Simulation is also considered, as in Smith's FIG. 8. Like French, Smith also requires special clothing, markings, or tags on both the horse and rider for detection of joint angles and relative positioning of horse and rider. Smith also is limited to recording video and other sensor data during a “ride” to then be assessed after the ride, to then provide instruction to the rider to attempt improvement on the next ride. Smith does not teach nor suggest detecting specific “trigger conditions” in real time during the ride to prompt or cue the rider to make a correction or complete a movement in real time as the ride is observed, as does the current invention.
Similarly, in USPTO publication number US20150139502A1, Holohan describes a method by which a player's basketball jump shot motion is recorded during one activity session then assessed thereafter by comparison to an ideal “reference skeleton” performing the same motions in order to identify a correction(s) to the athlete which may be the focus of the next activity session. Like Smith, Holohan does not teach nor suggest detecting specific “trigger conditions” in real time during the jump shot motion to prompt or cue the player to make a correction or complete a movement in real time as the jump shot is observed, as does the current invention.
Accordingly, the prior art in the field falls short of the advantages achieved by the current invention described herein.